Afghanistan Finally Overtakes Iraq in Terms of Per Month Spending

Richard Wolf writes on defense spending trends:The monthly cost of the war in Afghanistan, driven by troop increases and fighting on difficult terrain, has topped Iraq costs for the first time since 2003 and shows no sign of letting up.
Pentagon spending in February, the most recent month available, was $6.7 billion in Afghanistan compared with $5.5 billion in Iraq. As recently as fiscal year 2008, Iraq was three times as expensive; in 2009, it was twice as costly.
Irrespective of your feelings about Iraq today, it’s worth taking a minute to observe that it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2004. And it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2005. And it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2006. And it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2007. And it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2008. And it was absurd to spend more money in Iraq than Afghanistan in 2009.
And not just absurd, it’s been positively tragic. Throughout 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 the population of Afghanistan was, unlike the population of Iraq, strongly supportive of a US military presence. If you want to use the US military for humanitarian ends, that’s how you want to use it—in places where it’s wanted. But we squandered goodwill over a period of years, failed to provide security, failed to provide economic opportunity, and ultimately let the Taliban regroup. Now we face a tragic and difficult situation where much of the population wants us gone, and much of the population fears being abandoned to the Taliban’s clutches. It’s an extremely tough spot, and almost certainly unnecessary.

Everyone knows America’s campaign in Afghanistan has been an enormous foreign policy success. The Taliban harbored al-Qaeda before and after 9/11 so naturally, the US had to oust Mullah Omar and company on the way to chasing Osama bin Laden through the mountains whilst laying waste to whatever civilization existed prior to the American invasion.

President Donald Trump has has given the Pentagon unilateral authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, the WSJ and Reuters reported overnight, clearing the way for the military to intensify its fight against the Taliban and opening the door for future troop increases requested by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

WASHINGTON: Over White House objections, the US Senate on Thursday passed a $612 billion defense policy bill that calls for arming Ukraine forces, prevents another round of base closures and makes it harder for President Barack Obama to close the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Senate voted 71-25 to approve the bill, which Barack Obama has threatened to veto. The bill, which now must be reconciled with the version passed by the House, provides a 2.3 per cent pay increase for US servicemen and -women. It also reaffirms a ban against torturing detainees.

Whether by guile or dumb luck or both, the Conservative government has manoeuvred both main Opposition parties, the Liberals in particular, into a cul-de-sac from which they can do little but bleat about the imminent extension of a military mission in Iraq that has proven overwhelmingly popular, and also has the virtue of being the least-obviously-bad move for Canada now. All that remains is to measure the scale of the coming rout, and assess the damage on the Opposition side.

Anyone recall how the war in Iraq would pay for itself? That was the US Defense Department estimate in 2003.Now some $3 trillion later (add in veterans’ benefits, depreciation of equipment, humanitarian aid, covert action, and paying for the military efforts of our coalition ‘partners' and the Total Cost of Iraq, Afghan Wars is $4-6 Trillion. Come Hell or High Water

James Mattis, a retired four-star general and perhaps the most famous living U.S. Marine, was sharply critical of the Obama administration's timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan in statements made to The Army Times today.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled a plan to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan after what has become the longest war in American history. In a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House, Obama announced his intention to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014, when the U.S.'s combat operations will be completed.